VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Invests $11.08 Million in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 93,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,080,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 98.1% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 53.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 360.0% during the 1st quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $134.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $143.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price objective on Duke Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $143.00 price objective for the company. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.77.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $129.00 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $123.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $100.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.44. Duke Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $105.20 and a 1-year high of $129.51.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.04). Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The business had revenue of $7.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a $1.065 dividend. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 69.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total value of $832,542.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,768,397.72. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total value of $248,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,438,843.04. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Profile

Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest.